6 Jan 22
News

New rule means Dutch companies must report CO2 of employees

The Dutch parliament building with the Dutch flag

The Dutch government has mandated a new rule that means employers must monitor, measure and report on the CO2 emissions of their staff.

It means any employer with 100 or more employees must register how much CO2 each member of staff emits while doing their job, traveling for business or commuting to and from work. The aim is to provide emissions data that will enable further measures to be introduced that will eventually lead to a CO2 reduction of one million tons by 2030.

In terms of transport, it means businesses will have to survey staff to find out how they commute to work - by car, public transport, motorbike, bicycle? They will also be asked what type of car they drive and what fuel it uses?

An unpopular decision

The measure was first introduced in 2019 but didn’t become effective due to the long-lasting formation of the new government but the Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Works expects it to be valid as of January 1st, 2023.

Although many Dutch citizens support climate change initiatives, the rule has already received criticism from both business leaders and employees with the former saying it’ll be time consuming and costly and the latter worried about privacy. Some people are also concerned it may open the door to further restrictions for companies or even fines for non-compliance or emission taxes.

Ending climate change, however, is an arduous issue requiring tough, and often unpopular, initiatives. It’ll be interesting to see if other countries follow the Dutch example.

Authored by: Alison Pittaway